Many of the early settlers in Elgin were
farmers, with wheat being their largest crop. In the 1850ís the demand for
wheat began to decline and farmers were faced with a choice: readdress their
business practices or face extinction. The answer would become one of Elginís
biggest revenue producers: milk. Chicago needed a constant and sizable stream of
fresh milk and Elgin took up the challenge.

In 1852, Phineas Smith would ship a bottle of
milk from his farm, land owned by Dr. Joseph Tefft that would eventually become
Lordís Park, to a Chicago hotel. By 1858 he would be joined by over 20 other
farmers were cumulatively sending over 21,000 gallons of milk to Chicago. By the
1890ís the ranks of milk, butter and cheese factories within a 50 mile radius
of Elgin increased to over 200. "Elgin Dairy" milkmen were common
occurrences in Chicago.

By 1891, David W. Wilson had established The
Elgin butter district, a board designed to regulate and set prices for dairy
products would meet once a week on South Grove Avenue. The boardís motto was
"Elgin Makes the Price, We Tell You What It Is".

These activities would attract the attention
of Gail Borden, of Bordenís Evaporated Milk fame and John Newman, owner of The
Springbrook Dairy, who owned or controlled the output of over 50 dairies.

Ed. Note: The woman who sold me this
card was a retired Elgin School District teacher. As she was selling it to
me, she said with a straight face, "they tore that building down, you
know!" (??????????)